Monday, July 14, 2008

Coulda shoulda woulda

I am suffering from a strange sense of dissatisfaction, an irritable worm boring through the apple of my life (how's that for a metaphor?). I am provoked by a general sense of peevishness unrelated to things I should be annoyed by; a misdirected malaise, if you will.

Now that I have exhausted the resources of my thesaurus, what exactly is it that has me so mildly yet persistently irked?

You would think that it might be that I once again failed to break the 25 minute 5K on Saturday, and in fact failed to break a 26 minute 5K! But no. I'm disappointed by that, but I can accept it. I can think of any number of reasons why this happened/didn't happen, and I'm sure I will write about them in a future post.

But what really, really yanks my chain about this race result is that my Garmin time showed 3.1 miles in 26:16, but my official chip time was 26:39. What's that all about?? I carefully hit start the moment I got to the blue mat and hit stop right after I crossed the finish line. I could allow for a variation of a few seconds, but 23 seconds? Unexplainable. Inexplicable! (Yeah, I'm rockin' the thesaurus now!)

Next fly in my ointment—the Fourth of July 10K. Generally speaking, I'm totally cool with my finish time of 53:29. I accept, and actually am a little intrigued that my last three 10K's have all been pretty much the same 53½ minute times. I am a little perturbed at being beat by the person I know from work (as I mentioned before)—particularly as he really doesn't run that much.* But I've dealt with that (pretty much) and accepted it (sort of). So what has totally sent me over the edge into minor disgruntlement?**

That would be the final time results which show that his time was under 53 minutes, 52:57 to be exact. Now I can handle not breaking 53 minutes; I can deal with being beaten. But having the person who beat me break 53 minutes—now that's harsh! To borrow a phrase from the young folks. The young folks of the '90's, probably.

(One of the unfortunate side effects of this airing of grievances is that it is sending me repeatedly into the kitchen at work to grab handfuls of candy. Hard, crunchy, candy-coated almonds, to be exact. Apparently I am drawn not only to sugar, but to the inherent risk of breaking a tooth.)

Let me see, anything else on my mind? You might think I'd be annoyed by my inability to lose 10 pounds, and I am, but I'm actually at peace with that for the moment. Instead of tearing my hair out over a dress that's just a little too clingy to wear to a wedding in two weeks, I bought a different dress, which I really love and doesn't cling.

What really sends me into orbits of aggravation is that when I do indulge on something I shouldn't (say, like several pieces of cake at a shower or handfuls of M&M's, pillow mints, and chocolate almonds), I immediately gain not just one but several pounds (the equivalent of like 10,000 calories) and then it takes me several days before I can return to the pre-cake weight. It's so not fair!

Well, I think that's about all of my complaints for now. I'm generally a pretty cheery person, so I don't think this is going to send me into the doldrums or create an ulcer. I've aired my grievances, and now I shall let them go. Pretty much. But I still want the answer to that 5K thing.

(By the way, I didn't really intend to include a 9-minute version of Satisfaction. Unless you are a very slow reader you will be closing this window long before the song is over. Feel free to shut Mick down anytime! I just don't feel like going back to YouTube for a different version.)

*I did beat him in the Whidbey Island Half-Marathon though. Let that not be forgotten.

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Runner Girl

I can fly, or I can run

I Am a Runner Girl

But now my task is smoothly done,I can fly, or I can runQuickly to the green earth’s end,. . .And from thence can soar as soonTo the corners of the moon.Mortals that would follow me,Love virtue, she alone is free.John Milton

About Me

Avid antique shopper and garden lover, runner, walker, skier, and yoga & pilates devotee. Frequent traveller to England. Voracious reader of literary fiction, travel memoirs, self-help books, mysteries, garden & decorating books, and a wide variety of magazines (Runner's World, Oprah, Prevention, More, Glamour, as well as stacks of gossip mags while at the Y). I also have a weakness for contemporary Brit-lit (Bridget Jones and sistren) and sweeping English sagas (e.g. Rosamunde Pilcher novels). English major in my former life. I love sweet peas, David Austin English roses, old houses, antique silver, china and glassware, the Cotswolds, chocolate, scones with jam & clotted cream, and Jane Austen novels. When I grow up (or in my next life) I would like to own a tea room and antiques shop, but for now I just visit as many as I can.